US Politics April 2019 Thread: 'I find that pretty hard to believe'

Is Rosenstein firmly committed to being on the wrong side fo history? I thought he was teh protector of this report being researched for the last 2 years so why is he palling with the people trying to suppress it.

I dunno! You could ask him and let us know - 📞 +1 (202) 514-2000

oh really more self congratulatory wank, no wonder i tend to ignore you

i know it's pointless to mention this, but seriously, anyone who says the mueller report indicates that the president did not obstruct justice did not read the report. it is impossible to read the report, or read the conclusions of someone who faithfully read the report, and come to that conclusion. the report's section on obstruction (vol 2, literally half of the report) shows over and over and over again exactly how he obstructed justice.

it is driving me nuts. it isn't just the predictable rightwing reaction ("total exoneration", head in the sand/fingers in the ears). relatively well-meaning people are also getting this, frankly, COMPLETELY WRONG.

the most commonly held view on all of this (afaict) is something like "they came up with some evidence on obstruction of justice but it wasn't enough to come to a clear conclusion." that is the shorthand, NPR-style 15-second update on the matter, and also one that i see and hear dejected trump-haters spouting as well. again - that is COMPLETELY WRONG. if you hear or watch people presenting that view - they did not repeat the report. it is not a matter of interpretation or bias. it is just wrong. please, if you hold that view, take a solid 45 minutes out of your day and read the introduction to Vol 2, and skim through the factual section.

the 2+2=5 is very very strong in the world today, it is bewildering

The accurate summary is "they came up with all kinds of evidence of obstruction of justice, but since a sitting president can't be indicted, they decided not to make a flat 'he obstructed justice' statement, instead choosing to leave it in the hands of a feckless, cowardly, and hopelessly partisan Congress and hope for the best."

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/439832-trump-approval-drops-to-2019-low-after-mueller-reports-release-poll

It's go back up 3% if he's able to hold his farts for a week.

In the absence of either Roger Stone or Assange becoming cooperative witnesses, I accept that Mueller was unable to prove criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and the DNC hackers and their Russian backers. Too bad. The evidence of obstruction of justice has been both obvious and voluminous since roughly forever, but I never thought either this or the last Congress would remove him from office based on that charge.

I still think that investigators - federal or congressional - need to get deep into exposing his financial crimes before the tide would turn on Trump and he'd lose a good chunk of his own party. Barring some big breaks in that wall, there's probably not enough time before the election to successfully remove Trump.

The better course would be to defeat Trump's narrative of innocence and exoneration, and replace it with a narrative of culpability, venality, lying and incompetence, especially if the House Judiciary committee can get its hands on the evidence that Mueller used to spawn 14 ancillary criminal investigations and open out the conversation from just the Mueller Report and Russia.

adding to that last thought, the Republicans benghazied Hillary fore and aft without ever having to risk a move as fraught with dangers as impeachment, so you know that pounding away at a narrative through congressional investigations can undermine public confidence pretty thoroughly, even when there's not much evidence to work with.

what a shame that this innocent man is surrounded by all these criminals

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/20/opinion/sunday/mueller-report-trump.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

Sort of agree with Douthat here. Time to log off

https://i.imgur.com/i7VnNcK.png

your messageboard argument prompt for easter sunday

this HOM in the Glossary is Hannity, right?

https://i.imgur.com/uPOsTfx.jpg

hahaha

can i share that picture on FB?

Sure but I’m going to feel silly if it turns out to be Jim Harbaugh

it could be someone whose name is literally "Harm to Ongoing Matter"

looooool

Katherine pointed that out right after the report was released. I thought at first there was something to the fact that HARM fits right there too until she pointed out the same acronym exactly where Kavanaugh would go

there’s another HOM spot that is obviously Roger Stone

Rep. Ilhan Omar: Legalize marijuana everywhere, expunge records of those jailed for pot offenseshttps://t.co/3XCQ8p18Hr pic.twitter.com/6JqX9JfD2e

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) April 20, 2019

Clearly this is the latest step in her plan to destroy America from within.

no one will notice that the pot brownies are laced with sharia law

Rudy Giuliani declared on Sunday that President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort had been nearly “tortured” in jail as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and referred to one of Mueller’s lead prosecutors as a “hit man” before walking back both comments.

so manafort... wasnt tortured

"I love them. I know they like me too. It's the egg farmers of this country, the egg farmers," Trump says at the White House Easter Egg Roll.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) April 22, 2019

AND THEY'RE FARMIN EGGS WHILE THE SLAVES ARE ALL WORKIN

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/D4xCOfgWsAAjXhm.jpg

I was about to post that picture!

all Trump appearances should have him flanked by a costumed character. really helps set the right tone

how can someone with servants have the "oh shit i left the iron plugged in" look that melania has in that photo

Does this make Melania a mushroom farmer?

all Trump appearances should have him flanked by a costumed character. really helps set the right tone

― mh, Monday, April 22, 2019

what a mean thing to write about Melania

I'd never imply that Melania has any discernible sense of character

Not in public, at least.

The Giuliani/Tapper clip is getting replayed on local news here. I choose to take that as a good sign.

NEW: The US is threatening to veto a UN Security Council resolution because it talks about giving sexual and reproductive health support to victims of rape in conflict. https://t.co/xI2MsA9Oyo

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) April 22, 2019

Now here's a development I did not see coming, yet it's weirdly predictable.

Holy fuckin shit. This was a pop up ad on an article I was reading for a strip club in my town. He’s appearing at strip clubs. For $25 dollars. Lmao pic.twitter.com/4TNNF5Agxz

— Matt (@WhoCare6969) April 22, 2019

We already know he's got the G-strings...

And he's gotta split the $25 with the "Manhattan Madam"!

How much extra to make the Nixon tattoo smile and frown, I wonder.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/22/trump-approval-mueller-report-1286386

and for good measure:
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/04/22/easter-egg-roll-trump-border-wall-1286361

too on the nose, donny, too on the nose.

this little girl came up to me, she was eating a peep, said Paul Krugman, of the Fake News New York Times, has lost all credibility

https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-census-citizenship-question-trump-ross-20190423-story.html

But while views of Trump have tumbled since the publication of Robert Muller’s redacted report, so has support for impeaching him. Only 34 percent of voters believe Congress should begin impeachment proceedings to remove the president from office, down from 39 percent in January. Nearly half, 48 percent, say Congress should not begin impeachment proceedings.

after release of the mueller report, of which even a cursory scan demonstrates the presidents obvious guilt and numerous obstructions of justice, bad intent, and that he's a fucking incompetent asshole, fewer people think he should be impeached. i don't think the reduction comes from a bunch of people coming to the conclusion that it's better practically or politically to avoid impeachment for now while continuing to investigate, etc etc - it comes from a bunch of people hearing "the release of the mueller report has lifted a dark cloud off the president", "the report did not identify criminal activity by the president", etc etc. fuck this country, fuck everyone who can't take 20 minutes to read

unrelated, but while i'm at it, fuck popular twitch streamers, too. god that shit is annoying

actually, I do know Dems and libs, not on this thread obsessing over Morning Psycho or all over Facebook, who would rather wait till 2020 and vote Trump out.

actually, I do know Dems and libs, not on this thread obsessing over Morning Psycho or all over Facebook, who would rather wait till 2020 and vote Trump out.

sure - i get that. that's what i meant by "i don't think the reduction comes from a bunch of people coming to the conclusion that it's better practically or politically to avoid impeachment for now while continuing to investigate, etc etc." but people with that view (a totally legit view, although not one i agree with) probably held that before the mueller report came out, so they're not the reason for a reduction in support for impeachment. surely the cascade of headlines and shitty, SHITTY reporting in the immediate aftermath of the report's release had more to do with it

sure, if you stuck around a day or two, long enough to hear about how there was actually some damaging stuff to trump in there, you might have come across some better reporting or hot takes from pundits. but you can't undo the damage of the failures in the immediate aftermath of the release, when by far the most people are paying attention

then again, his approval ratings have also (temporarily) declined, so what do i know

You thought the reporting last Thursday sucked? I thought it a huge improvement over last month's Barr memo farrago.